Screen-door latch.



J. K. CHAMP. SCREEN DOOR LATCH. APPLICATION IILBD own, 1913.

1,101,253. Patented Juhe 23, 1914.

4 it w WY JOHN K. CHAMP, OF PARIS, KENTUCKY.

SCREEN-DOOR LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 23, 1914.

Application filed October-11, 1913. Serial No. 794,727.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN K. CHAMP, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Paris, county of Bourbon, and State of Kentucky, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Screen-Door Latches, of whichthe followin is a full, clear, and exact description, re erence beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a latch for screen doors, and has for its objectthe Provision of such a latch of simple and inexpenslve construction andone which has provision for independent looking on the inside so that itis secure from outside manipulation.

With this and other objects in view my invention consists in details ofconstruction hereinafter particularly described and disclosed in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective of my newlatch as applied to a door; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the operating partsof my new latch, the back of the casing having beenremoved; Fig. 3 is anedge view of the latch with the end of the casing removed; Fig. 4 is ahorizontal section of an overlapping door and jamb, showing theattachment of my new latch.

The numeral 1 indicates the casing of my new latch; said casing is ofmetal preferably and is adapted to be secured to the upright of a screendoor. Pivotally mounted on a stud 2 in said casing is an arm 3 whichcarries a laterally projecting bolt 4 adapted to enter, for the purposeof locking the door, into a recess 5. Operatively connected with saidarm 3 is a stud 6 which projects through a slot 7 in the back plate 8 ofthe casing; by means of this stud the bolt 4 may be operated to lock orunlock the door as will be readily apparent and the slot 7 will be atall times closed by the backward extension of the arm 3 as shown. Inorder that the bolt may be secured in either looking or free position,the arm 3 is provided with a finger 9 which is adapted to operate duringthe movement of the bolt 4 over a hump 10 on a pivotally mounted arm 11;the mounting of said arm being on a stud 12 attached to the casing. Thearm 11 is held in tension by means of a spring 13, which engages a notch14 in the side of the arm opposite the hump 10, the opposite end of saidspring bearing in a notch in an arm 15, which arm is pivotally mountedon a stud 16 in the casing and is maintained against the tension ofspring 13 in the manner hereinafter described. Itotatably mounted in thecasing is a shaft 17 which extends outwardly through the upright of thedoor and has attached to its free end a knob 18 by means of which theshaft maybe rotated from the outside Secured to said shaft is an arm 19similar in all respects to arm 3, and having a bolt 20, operating stud21 and finger 22 also similar to the like parts on arm 3. The bolt 20 isadapted to engage a notch 23 to lock the door. Pivotally mounted-in thecasing is an arm 24, simllar to arm 11, which carries a hum 25 adaptedto operate in conjunction with finger 22 in the manner of the operationof finger 9 and hump 10. The arm 24 is maintained under tension by meansof a spring 26, which engages said arm, and also the arm 15 opposite theengagement of spring 13 therewith. The springs 13 and 26 being thusopposed, the pivotally mounted arm 15 will be held in balance, so tospeak, between them, and the arms 11 and 24 will thus at all times beunder equal tension.

The ends of the locking bolts 4 and 20 are rabbeted, as shown in Figs.1, 3 and 4 so that the projecting ends are thinner than the boltsproper, as shown at 27. Thus when the latch casing is secured to theupright of a screen door, as shown in Fig. 4, the bolt is adapted toengage the notch 5 on the jamb, a substantial thickness of metal 28 ofthe plate being between the bolt and the inside of the door.

From the foregoing description the operation of my latch will beapparent. To look the door from the inside the bolt 4 is thrown into therecess 5 in the manner above indicated by means of the stud 6; tounlock, the bolt is thrown back by means of the reverse operation of thestud 6. In either position it will be maintained by the tension of arm11. The operation of bolt 20 is effected from the outside by means ofknob 18 and from the inside by stud 21. One bolt may thus be operatedfrom the outside or inside of the door, and the other bolt from theinside only, thus effectively locking the door against outsidemanipulation. By this construction also an effective and equal tensionis at all times maintained for the two bolts by means of the opposedbearing of springs 13 and 26 on the pivotally mounted arm 15.

Having thus described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. A screen door latch comprising a casing, a locking bolt pivotallymounted. in said casing, a slot in the back wall of said casing, a studon said bolt and projecting through said slot for the operation of saidbolt, an extension back of said bolt at all times to close said slot, atension arm piv otally mounted in said casing and adapted to engage saidbolt to hold the same in either looking or unlocked position and aspring to maintain said arm under tension.

2. A screen door latch comprising a casing, two locking bolts pivotallymounted in said casingand adapted to engage recesses in the jamb of adoor, tension arms pivotally mounted in said casing and provided withmeans to hold said bolts in either looking or unlocked position, meansfor the operation of said bolts, an arm ivotally mounted in said casingbetween said tension arms, vand springsbearing between said lastmentioned arm and said tension arms whereby equality of tension of thelatter may be automatically maintained.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this8 dayof :Ootober,1913.

JOHN K. CHAMP. Witnesses:

GEORGE B L RZ W. M. B-YABS.

' Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing-the Commissioner of Eatents Washington, D. G.

